The last week before the October international break was challenging for Bayern Munich as they shared points in two Bundesliga games and suffered defeat away at Aston Villa in the Champions League. Despite the poor results, Bayern delivered good performances in all three games.
Vincent Kompany has enjoyed a solid start to the season. With several eyebrows raised in the summer due to Kompany’s appointment at Bayern, the Belgian coach surprised critics with good-quality football in the first couple of months of the campaign.
According to SportBild (via iMiaSanMia), Bayern players are enjoying the aggressive style of football under Vincent Kompany after a difficult season under Thomas Tuchel.
Bayern have been one of the best teams to watch this season. They are playing free-flowing football, creating chances and scoring loads of goals. Under Kompany, the team is aggressive with the press and plays a high line of defense to squeeze the pitch. Along with taking risks in the final third, Kompany has also made sure Bayern dominate possession and concede fewer chances to the opposition.
Can Bayern sustain the high energy football over a season?
The impressive start to the campaign does raise questions about whether Bayern can sustain high-energy football over the entire season. Considering the hectic schedule, the fatigue will kick in, and the intensity level of players will drop.
The onus will be on Kompany to rotate well and use the entire squad to make sure there is no drop in performances over the season. The Belgian coach has done a reasonable job when it comes to rotation in September. With games coming thick and fast over the next three months, it will be interesting to see how Kompany manages to stick with his style of football.
While the start to the campaign is impressive, Kompany will be judged on how Bayern end the campaign. The Belgian needs consistency and performances throughout the season to bring silverware back to Allianz Arena. Kompany will have to make the team resilient, picking points on days when they are not at their best. They are yet to come across such a scenario this season, but off days will certainly arrive as the season progresses.
Bayern will look to bounce back from recent disappointing results when competitive football resumes next weekend. VfB Stuttgart will visit Allianz Arena on October 19 to face Bayern on matchday seven of the Bundesliga. The Bavarian club needs to win this game to retain the top spot in the points table.